Alex Wheeler

I then felt bad for taking photos, because Oliver can’t verbalise his thoughts, so he had no say in whether he wanted to be photographed or not.

This is my brother, Oliver in 2013, he had just woken up. He is severely autistic and cannot speak or communicate like we do. This photo was taken during my third year at university when I was working on my final project. At this point, I knew I wanted to base my work on Oliver and his autism, but had no idea how, so I naturally just started photographing him all the time (which he probably hated). I then felt bad for taking photos, because Oliver can’t verbalise his thoughts, so he had no say in whether he wanted to be photographed or not. He hadn’t given his consent, and I didn’t like that. So I never showed this photograph, nor the others, to anyone and they weren’t featured in the project at all.

Five years later, and despite not knowing whether he would have minded having this photo taken or not, I now see that that it has much more meaning to it than just whether or not he had consented to it. I take photos of people who I know, without their permission, all the time, it is the basis of my work. It is rare that someone will say to me ‘please don’t show that to anyone’ because I try and capture a person who is caught off guard in a photograph, showing their true self. So why should I have to make an exception with Ollie? If he could talk, he may be offended that I didn’t show it.

Alex Wheeler is a photographer and artist, who’s work brings together both documentary photography and portraiture. Alex’s subjects are often aware that they are being photographed, yet they are rarely considered a ‘sitter’. She manages to capture a moment of distraction where the person/people have forgotten that the camera is even present, which is when the photograph is taken. Alex attended Chelsea College of Art and Design and London College of Communication, where she studied Photography. She currently lives and works in South East London.